Man's Best Friend

A man's best friend is not necessarily a dog ...


Version 4.0

A [very] young [rather small] Deathclaw can be discovered somewhere out there in the wasteland. If befriended, and nurtured over time as a companion, it will grow in size, ferocity, loyalty, and intelligence. The ultimate in best friend.


Key Features:

- Introductory Quest
- Companion Wheel
- Choice of a More or Less powerful companion
- Choice of carrying or not carrying equipment
- Grows in size over time to either shoulder height or intimidatingly large
- Multiple Combat Modes: Aggressive, Passive, and semi-Passive behaviors
- Gains experience Levels with enhancement of Health, Damage Dealing, Damage Threshold, Healing Rate
- Humans and Creatures may become terrified when fighting your Deathclaw companion
- Companion Perks and Player Character Perks are awarded after quest completions and level advancements
- This is an "extra" companion that does not count against the normal One Human / One Creature limitation


Basic F.A.Q.:

What's this mod all about?

This is a full-featured companion mod. Your follower will have a Companion Wheel and a complete set of abilities. He levels up with the Player character, grows in size and abilities over time, and has a "passive" combat mode that really works. There are also special not-immediately-revealed qualities.

How do I start? Where do I go and what do I do?

Go pay a visit to Zeke in Goodsprings. He can usually be found most evenings in the Saloon; otherwise, he may be working out back in his corn field or sleeping in his nearby trailer.

How soon can I start? Can it be done as a first level character?

Yes, it is designed to be playable immediately after stepping out of Doc Mitchell's place. Although it can be done at a later level as well.

Do I have to begin a new game to use this mod? Or can it be used with a saved game?

You do not need to begin a new game to use this mod. You should be able to install it and use it with an existing saved game.

But note that this companion does not immediately scale up to your character's current level -- it begins at a low level and only "levels up" as your character gains levels. Which means this companion might not be the most appropriate choice for someone with an already high level character. Why does this leveling limitation exist? To ensure an opportunity to enjoy his growth from juvenile to adult over time while adventuring. That experience would be ruined if the scripting simply advanced him many levels to match an already high level player character.

How can I tell if this mod is really working?

Step outside Doc Mitchell's place to see if he still has his original old battered rusted mailbox which looks like it can no longer be completely closed, or a newer one provided by this mod which is a bit steaky and dirty but otherwise in good condition (a copy of Today's Physician should be inside). The mailbox is a short ways down from the front door. Also see the OId/New mailbox screenshot in the IMAGES section of this mod.

My new Best Friend sometimes gets stuck in places and can't move. What do I do?

Equip and use the Ripper's Widget device that has been placed in your inventory. It can be found in the Weapons category. Or just wait a little bit - he will soon unstick himself.

Does this mod conflict with other mods?

There are currently no known conflicts.

[ see the complete F.A.Q. for further information ]


Notable Update Changes:

- Little Ripper's maximum level increased to 30 (from the prior 20).

- New Companion Perk: Little Ripper begins a Raging Red Rampage while in combat whenever his health drops below 35%. This becomes available when Ripper reaches level 15.

- Revised Companion Perk: Little Ripper can issue a Terrifying Roar during combat that potentially frightens an enemy into running away. Whether fleeing will occur or not depends on the Target's Health and Confidence, plus Little Ripper's current Level. This becomes available when Ripper reaches level 7 (previously level 5). It does not affect Robots, Ghouls, or Abominations.

- New Player Perk: Predator Intimidation ("Terrifying Presence", +15 Barter, +15 Speech) while Ripper is nearby and an active companion. This becomes available once Ripper recovers from his ordeal (instead of the Predator Intincts perk).

- Revised Player Perk: The Predator Instincts perk (+3 Perception, see Target Health and Damage Threshold) becomes available after completing the Brain Power quest (previously informal, but now logged and tracked).

- Follower Movement Styles: Run whenever possible; don't dawdle and Walking is okay when nearby, no need to run. Available via dialog within the "About how we move around" topic.

- Ripper's Recaller replaced by Ripper's Widget: a "Handy-Dandy Widget Thingummy" with multiple functions:

Recall Aggressive and Recall Passive - resets Ripper's AI and positions him at (teleports him to) your current location with these settings: Stay Close, Run whenever possible, Keep up with me, and Don't get too far away. Also, for Aggressive he is set to Attack bad guys, and Don't attack until I say otherwise for Passive.  For use if his scripting becomes confused or he gets stuck somewhere.
Stay Small - resizes Ripper based on his current level and limits growth to roughly shoulder height.
Grow Big - resizes Ripper based on his current level and allows growth to be intimidatingly large. [default]
Less Powerful - sets base values for Ripper's Damage, Health, and Protective Armoring.  Good choice for general play. [default]
More Powerful - sets enhanced values for Ripper's Damage, Health, and Protective Armoring.  Good choice for mods such as AWOP and MoMod.
Carry Stuff - permits Ripper to carrying things via dialog and the companion wheel; available after Ripper recovers from his ordeal.
Don't Carry Stuff - disallows Ripper carrying things; all items are transferred to the player character. [default]
Enraged Effects - special visual effects will be shown for Ripper when he becomes enraged during Raging Red Rampage. [default]
No Enraged Effects - visual effects will not be shown for Raging Red Rampage.

- Little Ripper's recovery period reduced from 7 days to 5 days.

- The new Perks will be automatically awarded in existing saved games as appropriate.

- The "Alternate" version of this mod has been discontinued since the Stay Small setting via Ripper's Widget accomplishes the same thing.


Requirements:

Only the basic game is required. You do not need any of the DLCs.


Installation:

Click the "Download with Manager" button to automatically install using the Nexus Mod Manager (NMM). If using Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) or Mod Organizer (MO), first download the mod by clicking the "Download Manually" button and then select that downloaded file for installation; do not unpack it yourself.

For manual installs, click the "Download Manually" button to download the mod, unzip it, copy the Man's Best Friend.esp and Man's Best Friend.bsa files into your game's \DATA folder, and then activate the Man's Best Friend.esp file via the DATA FILES button on the game launcher.

Allow overwriting of files when installing updated versions.

NOTE: includes a Read Me text file and a Frequently Asked Questions text file which are placed in the game's DATA folder during install.


Load Order Requirements:

There are no Load Order requirements at this time. Position the .esp file wherever you like.


Saved Game Compatibility:

This mod should be compatible with existing saved games.


Updating Older Versions:

This update is compatible with older versions of this mod. Simply overwrite the current files, or uninstall the old version and then install the new one.


Uninstalling:

This mod can be uninstalled via the NMM / FOMM deactivation and deletion mechanisms if you use either of those mod managers, or by simply deleting the following files:

\Data\Man's Best Friend.esp
\Data\Man's Best Friend.bsa


Known Problems:

Since this mod uses non-standard values for companion healing, special scripting is required to handle mouse clicks when "healing" via the Companion Wheel. Because of game engine limitations, the health numbers that you see may not always appear to be quite right until you briefly move the mouse cursor away from that "pie slice" (although the actual health will always update correctly).

Because the game engine has problems figuring out when things come up against each other ("collision detection"), objects and NPCs can sometimes sink down into (or below) surfaces. When this happens to Little Ripper, he can become stuck and unable to continue following the Player Character. Scripting has been added to detect when that happens and which then tries to unstick him; alternatively, equip the Ripper's Widget device and use the Recall function.

The companion "follow" animations for Casual Follow and Quicker Follow will be a little quirky at times due to the inner workings of the game's animation engine. Try both styles and pick the one you like the best.


Permissions:

This mod may not be reused in part or whole for any purpose other than its original intent. It may not be uploaded to any other web site. Get in touch with me if you wish to discuss things; for example, translation into a non-English language.


Credits:

Inspired by the dog I never had.

A multitude of kudos to David LeMaistre (djmystro) for the creation of A World of Pain; a very enjoyable mod that also inspired me to create this one.


Screenshot Credits:

Not applicable at this time.


Available MODs:

Whirly by Athelbras
"Wireless High-Reliability Independent Government-Issue Gunship"
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/61402/?

Brynn by Athelbras
A friend to take along when travelling the wastelands
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/59355/?

Buddy Bot by Athelbras
"Buddies Are Forever - or until one rusts away"
... a Securitron companion mod
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57341/?

Goodsprings Tented Campsite (a player home) by Athelbras
A secluded tented campsite near Goodsprings for the Player and Companions.
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/60366/?

Nightskulker Gear by Athelbras
Equipment for those who go stealthily into the night
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57897/?

Passive Startup Messages (no DLC button clicking) by Athelbras
Passively displays DLC and Equipment Pack messages when starting a new game so that button clicking is not needed.
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57758/?


Recommended MODs:

Going into and out of places (like buildings or underground) is the most memory intensive part of the game, because the game does not do a good job of unloading the current location data before loading the next. So that is when memory usage peaks, and it is the most likely time for an out-of-memory crash. It is very common for players to experience crashes during "transitions", and often it is because they have too many mods installed and/or use high resolution textures, etc. However, here is a list of recommendations that can significantly reduce the likelihood of such crashes during game play.

4GB Fallout New Vegas Updated - a special launcher that lets the game use 4 GB (instead of 2 GB) for 64-bit Windows:
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/55061/?

NVAC New Vegas Anti Crash - an NVSE plug-in that handles certain types of errors that could otherwise cause a crash:
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/53635/?